EFF runs out of the red berets stock- is the party doing that well?

The success and popularity of the EFF is not a myth, I’ve experienced it. This year I went to Thembisa twice, on Sunday 4 August and again last week on Sunday 10 November 2013. Going through the township, I noticed that a lot people, whom the majority of them are youth support the EFF.

I also experienced the same thing when I went to Alexandra but Thembisa takes the cup. Last weekend during the voting registration, the EFF members painted Thembisa red with their trendy berets and t-shirts. You’d swear the party was having a celebration of some sort.

What drew my attention was the fact that I did not see members from other political parties wearing T-shirts of their parties. How, I don’t know. Or maybe they were there also wearing their organisations’ merchandise but I just didn’t pay attention to them.

Once in my life I had the privilege of putting on a red beret on my head, only in my room and a few minutes in the streets of Braamfontein. The beret was not mine. But the few minutes I was wearing it sufficed to make me the celebrity of Braamfontein.

People stopped us asking about the berets and how they can join the EFF. In fact that was nothing compared to the popularity that my friend received in the morning when crossing over the Nelson Mandela bridge on the way to my flat. He was stopped by many people in the streets expressing their desperate interests into joining the party.

It even got to a point whereby it started to irritate me because we couldn’t walk freely without being stopped. I’m talking about Braamfontein here. Imagine the traffic we would have received if we were in the townships. But my friend told me that was nothing, he alleges that Polokwane CBD is worse. He will stand on his feet the whole day addressing the people who want to join the party.

Today, Sunday 17 November the City Press reported that Malema’s EFF is running of stock. Apparently there’s more demand for the berets. However, can mean two things.

The fact that a lot of people want the EFF’s berets should be interpreted as suggesting that the party is the most popular organisation in the country. The same way it’s not true that everyone who attend the ANC rally will vote for the party. What if they are only interested in watching Chomee perform her signature tunes?

Anyway, if the EFF is running out of stock, that means the are many people coming to the fold to express their interest into the organisation, that one thing we can’t deny. But while on that, I should stress the point that how sure are we that those people will vote for the EFF or they are even registered to vote? But whatever the case, if you are wearing a red beret, you are directly marketing and mobilizing support for the party.